Men's Basketball Holds Off MCLA

WESTFIELD, Mass. –  Brandon Hamilton and JT Thompson each scored 20 points for Westfield State, as the Owls held on for a 69-60 win over MCLA in a hard fought 69-60 win over the Trailblazers at the Woodward Center on Saturday afternoon.

Westfield improves to 4-3 in the MASCAC and 5-14 overall, while MCLA is now 2-5 in the league and 6-11 overall.

MCLA trailed just 61-59 after Korey Greenland's three pointer with 4:25 left in regulation.

The Owls finally got some breathing room with back to back buckets, as Kobe Parker hammered a pass inside to Kumar Brown for a turnaround in the paint, then Gerry McManus scored on a drive to give the Owls a 64-59 lead with 2:05 left in the game.

Westfield got stops on the defensive end, as the Blazers missed their final seven shots from the floor over the final four minutes of the game.

Hamilton added nine rebounds to go with his 20, and Thompson grabbed eight boards.  Brendan Keaveny added 10 points off the besnch for the Owls, and McManus dished out a team high six assists as the Owls picked up assists on 22 of 29 buckets in the game.

MCLA was led by 16 points from Noah Yearsley, who connected on just 5 of 19 for the floor and 2-11 from long range.   Greenland added 11 and Jojo Garcia 10.   Mamadou Diallo and Reece Racette each grabbed eight rebounds for the Trailblazers.

Westfield led 31-24 at the half behind 10 points from Hamilton and nine from Thompson.    Noah Yearsley led the Blazers with nine in the first half.

Westfield will be back in action on Wednesday at Framingham State.

MCLA will host Fitchburg State on Wednesday.